Substance Abuse and Addiction

One of the worst problems facing society today is substance abuse and addiction.  When addiction enters a family, the whole family suffers.  If you are suffering from addiction, your self-esteem has been ruined and your energy is completely depleted, as you become wrapped up in maintaining and physically recovering from your addiction.  For your family members, it is like having an unpredictable, wounded animal in their house - they are constantly worried about your pain and suffering but also afraid you will hurt them and don't trust you.

At Personal Relationships, we help families and individuals discover God's healing, transforming power, which is greater than one of the most negative forces on earth - addiction.  Whether it is alcohol, drugs, food, pornography, or something else, we have therapists who can help. 

One of the ways we help is by getting family members to understand how they enable the problem.  Supporting just about every addiction is a well-intentioned enabler, who provides resources (money, shelter, excuses for school and work, to name a few) that help sustain the addiction.  Families have to learn to not be critical but also not to enable.   They usually do the opposite.  Family therapy and the establishment of safe boundaries is a must.

Individuals suffering from addiction must learn that they must share what is bothering them with their therapist and others, no matter how trivial it seems.  They have to learn to talk straight or keep walking crooked.  They also need to learn how to access the many support groups available, such as Celebrate Recovery and AA and how to use this support. We also teach people how to use distraction (when urges come), play the tape through (see the long term consequences, not just the immediate relief) and to talk back to their addictions with cognitive therapy.

We want to help you and your family break free from the bondage of addiction and to find the path of life.  Jesus and Moses discussed the path of life.  Moses challenged you to choose life and blessings for you and your family, not death and destruction (all addiction eventually ends in death).  And Jesus said that the path to life is narrow but the road to destruction is broad, and many fall upon it.  We pray that you choose life.  Call us for help.